410: Chapter 397 Preparing for the Ambush

The operation to ambush the Bauhinia Legion was set to begin soon. Zhang Mu took advantage of this gap to rush back to the royal capital and discuss the follow-up plans with Avril.

Subsequently, the two worked tirelessly day and night to formulate a proposal that roughly met current needs.

It involved highway projects, the recruitment and training of corresponding construction personnel, regulations for the appointment of a new generation of City Lords, and various other matters.

After resolving these issues, Zhang Mu immediately set off for the front lines. Instead of rushing to inspect the combat situation, he first disguised himself as a civilian to tour the major occupied cities.

The situation was indeed as Domit had described; the City Lord positions in most cities were vacant. Since the superior, Zhang Mu, had delayed sending new City Lords, there was no one to make decisions on city affairs. The attacking legions had no choice but to select suitable officers from within to serve as acting City Lords and handle the backlog of documents.

Before joining the legion, most of these Soldiers had been Farmers. They clearly couldn't understand how to govern a city, leading to varying degrees of chaos in the occupied cities.

Fortunately, Domit reacted in time and ordered them to place the cities under temporary military management, which curbed the growing rampant crime.

Zhang Mu reflected that although Lake was in a state of war, city governance could not be ignored. He immediately sent a letter to Avril in the royal capital, instructing her to prioritize the appointment of City Lords and set aside other matters for now.

In any case, according to the original plan, after occupying the entire territory of the Allied Forces, Lake would need a period of stabilization to sort out internal instabilities and consolidate its gains. Highway construction could wait until then to begin.

Later, Zhang Mu left the city and arrived at the front lines.

Domit's orders had already reached the various legions. The Legion Commanders dared not be negligent and pushed into the combat zones with all their might.

The resistance from the Allied Forces was already very weak, a fact most deeply felt by the assault squads responsible for clearing the way.

The captain remembered clearly that the small enemy units they first encountered, regardless of their combat strength, at least possessed a firm will to fight.

But now... most enemies in encounters would only symbolically release a few spells or fire a few arrows before turning to flee, refusing to engage with the squad at all.

This caused considerable trouble for the captain.

A Soldier's military merit comes from killing the enemy. If they can't kill the enemy, how can they talk about merit?

Although scouting carried some credit, the speed of accumulation was far too slow compared to killing enemies.

In his helplessness, the captain was forced to choose to close the distance as much as possible before launching an attack in subsequent encounters.

The drones detected everything and transmitted it back to the rear. Domit personally called the captain and severely rebuked him for such risky behavior.

The captain lowered his head and took the scolding honestly, lamenting in his heart that since he had made a mistake, he would likely be recalled to the rear for punishment.

However, after Domit finished scolding him, he didn't remove him from his post. Instead, he issued an order that seemed completely nonsensical to the assault squad—to go into hiding in the mountains near the Sator River.

What were they going there for?

The captain was utterly bewildered.

As far as he knew, that area was located outside the borders of the Allied Forces and was not under their jurisdiction.

When war hadn't broken out and the Allied Forces had plenty of troops, they would occasionally send patrols there. Now that the Allied Forces were on the verge of collapse, would they still have the spare energy to worry about things outside their territory?

Despite being unable to figure out the answer, an order was an order. The captain dared not delay and immediately led his members out.

After half a month of trekking, the assault squad successfully entered the mountains near the river in secret and went into hiding.

Nothing happened for the next ten days. The captain and his members hunted for food every day and sat on the mountaintops gazing into the distance. The leisurely routine allowed their tense nerves to relax significantly.

One evening, as usual, the captain climbed alone to a clearing on the mountaintop, overlooking the Sator River as it meandered across the plains.

The sunset glow burned the clouds red and fell upon the river's surface. The yellowish water made the captain squint his eyes.

“Captain, how much longer do we have to stay here?” Two squad members climbed up together.

“Wait for orders.”

One member spread his hands: “I suspect this is the Command Post's punishment for us.”

“I'm sorry,” the captain turned around. “If I hadn't decided to be so rash—”

“This can't be blamed entirely on the captain. We all agreed to it.”

“Exactly, at that time... Huh, what's that?”

The member pointed to the neighboring mountaintop, and the other two looked over as well.

Dusk had passed, leaving only a faint white light on the horizon. In the dim vision, the three of them strained their eyes to see what appeared to be... a door on the distant mountaintop?

“Uh, is that a door?”

On Blue Star, a door opening out of thin air in the void would certainly cause a public stir. However, this was the Saul Continent, a world where magic existed.

The captain and the two members were somewhat surprised, but they were surprised by who had opened the door.

“You go back and get the others; we'll go investigate.” The captain made a quick decision, ordering one member to return and notify the subordinates, while the other went with him to scout the situation.

The neighboring mountaintop wasn't very close. By the time the two reached the foot of the mountain, night had already fallen. Although stars and a bright moon hung high in the sky, the forest was dense, blocking out all the starlight.

It was uncertain if anyone was by the light gate, and if so, whether they were friend or foe. The two didn't dare use flashlights and could only climb the mountain in the dark, causing their already slow pace to become a literal snail's crawl.

After about an hour of effort, the two finally reached the mountainside. The trees on the mountainside were sparser, allowing the silver moonlight to illuminate the path ahead. Now that they could see the way, their steps unconsciously quickened.

Half an hour later, they successfully reached the summit.

The captain pressed down on the member's shoulder, signaling him to stand by, while he climbed up a bit further to a platform with a half-person-high drop from the summit clearing, quietly peeking out to observe.

A light gate was open in the middle of the clearing, with Soldiers constantly entering and exiting to carry wooden crates, stacking them neatly on the ground nearby. A circle of Soldiers stood outside the light gate, seemingly on guard duty.

Seeing the Soldiers' attire, the captain relaxed.

It turned out to be Lake's legion. Their clothes were very similar to ours, and their weapons were also...

Wait?

After studying the weapons in the Soldiers' hands for a moment, the captain grew suspicious.

Those weapons should be guns, but their appearance was somewhat different from the ones he used.

Strange. I've seen the weapons of Lake's elite legions, and they're the same as ours. No... He remembered that he had never personally seen the Soldiers of the First Army.

Holding onto his curiosity about the First Army's weapons, and knowing that even if they were allies, he would be punished if he stumbled upon a secret mission, the captain abandoned the idea of showing himself.

I'll watch for a bit longer and then leave.

Muttering to himself, he focused on examining the firearms held by the sentries.

As it turned out, the more he looked, the more he noticed. He realized their right hands were very discreetly making a sequence of hand signals, which were somewhat similar to the signals his instructors had taught him during training.

This one means “enemy presence,” this one is “direction, seven o'clock,” and this one is...

Oh no!

Realizing he was located exactly at the sentries' seven o'clock direction, the captain was scared out of his wits. He had been spotted!

His mind raced for a few seconds, and the captain reacted immediately. He stood up of his own accord, revealing his upper body while raising both hands high: “Not an enemy!”

The Soldiers, who had already raised their guns with fingers on the triggers, looked at each other. One of them shouted to him: “Come up.”

Maintaining a posture like a French salute, the captain said awkwardly: “Uh, I need to use my hands to climb up.”

“Use them.”

Having received permission, the captain quickly used both hands to pull himself up onto the edge of the clearing. He then raised his hands again to avoid any misunderstanding and walked slowly toward the sentries.

“Hmm?” As the distance closed and the Soldier saw the captain's uniform, he said in surprise, “Allies?”

“Yes!” The captain's face lit up with joy.

The Soldier did not relax his vigilance and continued to interrogate: “Which army are you from?”

“Uh, originally under the Ninth Army, later reorganized into an Independent Assault Squad.”

A Soldier nearby seemed to remember something: “The Marshal did warn us that there was an assault squad hiding in the mountains. Is that you?”

“Yes, that's me!” the captain said, lowering his hands.

“We need to double-check.” One of the sentries kept his gun aimed while the other slung his gun behind his back, pulled a square box out of his backpack, pointed it at the captain for a few seconds, and pressed a few buttons on the box.

After putting the box away, he spoke into the headset near his mouth: “Photo transmitted. Check the records.”

The headset crackled with a response: “Photo received. Verify name.”

“What's your name?”

“Mandy Shaw.”

The Soldier relayed to the headset: “Mandy Shaw.”

The staff member on the other end seemed to be searching the database. After a few minutes, they replied: “Verification complete. Identity confirmed.”

Only after hearing this did the Soldier lower his guard and walk quickly toward him: “I say, didn't you memorize the recruit handbook? You dare to peek while the First Army is on a secret mission? If I hadn't reacted quickly and remembered there were allies nearby, I would have opened fire just now.”

Mandy said sheepishly, “I was just... just curious...”

“Hahaha...” The Soldier laughed heartily and pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the light gate behind him. “What's there to be curious about with moving wooden crates?”

During their few minutes of confrontation, the light gate area remained completely undisturbed. The Soldier's companions seemed to ignore the three of them, working with high efficiency.

Captain Mandy looked at the pile of wooden crates: “What's inside—sorry, I shouldn't ask.”

“It's fine. Your assault squad will be fighting alongside the First Army in a few days anyway, so you'll see it then. The crates contain the latest developed ambush weapon, Butterfly Mines.”

“Butterfly Mines? The name is quite... romantic.”

“Right?” A Soldier agreed and patted Mandy on the shoulder. “The first time I heard it, I thought it was very romantic too.”

Another Soldier curled his lip: “No matter how romantic it sounds, it's still a weapon.”

“What are you all chatting about?” A Middle-aged Man in camouflage walked over.

The two Soldiers quickly stood at attention: “Company Commander!”

“Did you catch the enemy? Is it him?” the Company Commander asked while looking Mandy up and down.

“Not an enemy. I've already verified with the rear. He's a member of the assault squad the Marshal mentioned.”

Mandy stood in a military posture: “Reporting! I am the captain of the assault squad. We were ordered to go into hiding in the mountains half a month ago.”

The Company Commander seemed to have a brisk personality and asked without any nonsense: “Where are your members?”

“Reporting! One member came with me; the others are resting at the camp.”

“Is that so.” The Company Commander pinched his chin and thought for a moment. “Abandon your original camp and come to the First Army's station.”

The First Army's station? This mountaintop?

Seeing Mandy's hesitation, the Company Commander asked, “Is there a problem?”

“Although I'm not clear on the First Army's mission... the mountaintop is not conducive to concealment.”

The Company Commander waved his hand: “Who told you we... Stop the nonsense. Execute the order.”

“Yes!”

The captain turned and found the member cowering behind a tree, worried about his safety. The two returned to the camp together, bumping into the squad coming to support them midway.

The two sides exchanged information. Upon learning that those coming out of the light gate were not enemies but the legendary First Army, and that the First Army had invited them to move in, they were all so excited they started dancing.

“What are you so happy about? Go back to the camp, pack your gear, and clear any traces of our presence! Fast!”

The group returned to the camp, packed their weapons, cleared away the campfire and food scraps, and then set off for the mountaintop.

“Reporting! The assault squad is assembled. Expected 899 people, present 899 people.”

The Company Commander raised an eyebrow: “I heard you were responsible for scouting in the Allied occupied zones?”

“Yes!”

“No sacrifices at all?”

“Reporting! None!”

“I see why the Marshal...” the Company Commander muttered. His voice was too low for Mandy to hear the rest.

“Alright, follow me.”

Mandy scanned the clearing and found that the Soldiers who were moving wooden crates just now were all gone, and the crates stacked on the ground had vanished without a trace, as if they had never been there.

The Company Commander clearly wasn't going to help solve his confusion, and he didn't dare ask. He followed the Company Commander and a dozen First Army Soldiers into the light gate.

The moment he passed through the light gate, Mandy's consciousness blurred. Darkness fell before his eyes, and his other sensory organs ceased to function.

This strange sensation lasted for several minutes.

As time passed, his thoughts gradually cleared, and his vision became sharp again.

“This place is...” Mandy stared blankly at the scene before him.

It should be a military camp. On the left, rows of armored vehicles and tanks were neatly parked. On the right was a cluster of buildings. His gaze followed the stone path in the middle to the very end, where a large number of Soldiers in camouflage were sweating in a field filled with training equipment.

The most shocking thing was overhead.

It wasn't a clear blue sky, nor was it a night sky with a flowing river of stars. It was a void of pitch black. Staring at it for a long time made one suspect they might have come to another world, or even question if their own existence was real.

“This is the First Army's station. The Marshal has always kept it secret, and outsiders are forbidden from entering. It's normal that you didn't know such a place existed.”

The Company Commander gave a brief explanation and led them toward the buildings: “There's still half a month until the operation. During this time, you'll stay in the dormitories. Except for the tallest building in the station, you're free to visit other places and even use the training equipment. By the way, looking at all the weapons is fine, but do not touch them.”

The opportunity to unveil the mystery of the First Army was right at hand, yet Mandy didn't care at all. The same doubt repeatedly surfaced in his mind.

Since the First Army's station forbids outsiders from entering...

The Company Commander caught the violent trembling of Mandy's pupils from the corner of his eye and smiled: “Yes, the Marshal intends to absorb you into the First Army. Of course, that's provided you successfully pass multiple rounds of grueling assessments.”

With his suspicion confirmed, Mandy couldn't control his excitement. It was as if every cell in his body was cheering, clapping and inviting him to join. He struggled to calm his pounding heart and kept his voice as steady as possible.

“I... I will never fail the Marshal's expectations!”